Boxing News: Trainer wants Golovkin busy in 2016 to keep up with Canelo

Abel Sanchez said he wants Gennady Golovkin to fight four times this year to remain active in the boxing scene.
Reuters/Eric Gaillard (MONACO - Tags: SPORT BOXING)

Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez said the undefeated Kazakh to be as busy as possible and fight four times this year to keep up with the youth of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

“Our goal has always been to fight him a minimum of three and hopefully four times, but the way that these HBO and TV dates come about, it is difficult to get the fights that you want in but I want him as busy as possible,” Sanchez told Boxing Scene. “By the time we fight Canelo he will be 34 [years old], so the busier he stays, the better it is for not only us as coaches in the gym but for him and also the fans who get to enjoy his fights that much more.”

Golovkin, who currently holds the WBA, IBF, and IBO middleweight belts, is set to fight on Apr. 23 at the Madison Square Garden against an unnamed opponent but rumours have it that “GGG” could fight WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders or Tureano Johnson.

Saunders was reportedly offered by Golovkin’s camp a fight, but the British middleweight wants more money on the table. According to the IBF, Golovkin’s team only has until Jan. 19 to complete a deal with Saunders or the organisation will have the Kazakh knockout artist fight Johnson, his mandatory challenger for the IBF belt.

Meanwhile, Alvarez, who will also take on a voluntary title defense before facing Golovkin, has yet to announce his next opponent on the Cinco de Mayo weekend. But according to Sky Sports, Alvarez’s management has offered WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith a possible bout in May.

"We're contemplating an offer from Alvarez," Frank Warren, Smith’s manager, said. "We're looking at that, we'll think about it and see where we go."

Smith was successful in defending his WBO belt in December against Jimmy Kilrain Kelly.